Teaching & Learning

Our mission and policies

The SPEA Teaching and Learning Faculty Group is open to all full-time and part-time instructors, and has as its mission to:

Provide a forum for discussing important teaching-related issues that are applicable to all instructors

Provide a means for jointly developing policies and advice for the Dean’s Office and faculty on effective teaching

Develop teaching and learning resources for all SPEA full-time and part-time faculty.

We serve as a central venue within SPEA for discussing, exploring, and implementing effective and innovative teaching practices at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This group provides all faculty, regardless of rank, an institutional home for examining the strengths (and limitations) of teaching practices at SPEA, establishing classroom expectations for both SPEA faculty and students, learning about available existing resources for SPEA faculty or developing new resources, researching best practices at other schools at IU and nationally, and proposing to the faculty new policies and procedures.

Areas our policies might cover

New faculty orientation and training

Grading standards

Plagiarism

Assessment of learning

The enhanced use of technology in the classroom

Online learning

Guidelines and objectives

We may also come up with guidelines for bridging the gap between what students are learning inside and outside of the classroom. We will explore additional ways to recognize and reward faculty members who are doing exemplary work with our students and to make sure that all faculty members have the opportunity to learn from them. Another crucial goal of the group is to examine ways to address teaching needs in a climate of limited resources. Activities will include increasing collaborations between full- and part-time faculty, and investigating ways to train and assess graduate students and help them master new teaching skills.

Another objective is to examine how SPEA can ensure that our students develop the kinds of knowledge and skills that will prepare them for future success in their internships, jobs, or future studies. To accomplish this last goal, our faculty group will facilitate conversations with current students, alumni, graduate school admissions offices, and employers. The Office of Career Services and the Office of External Affairs, among others, will take part in these discussions.

Our Chair

The Teaching and Learning Faculty Group is chaired by a permanent member of the SPEA faculty, with program directors or their representatives attending ex officio. The Chair will facilitate the agenda of the faculty group, facilitate SPEA engagement with campus resources such as the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, and lead the planning of teaching workshops, orientations and training opportunities.